More gallery staff diagnosed with cancer

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Another two National Gallery of Australia (NGA) employees have
been diagnosed with cancer, taking the total number of staff
affected by the disease to 16, the gallery's deputy director Alan
Froud said.

Mr Froud told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday the two new
cases of cancer had been diagnosed since a report released in 2003
found staff may have been exposed to dangerous chemicals.

There had been concerns over a number of years that workers'
health was being compromised by problems with the gallery building,
particularly the air conditioning system, which prompted an
investigation.

The NGA became aware of a high incidence of cancer-related
illness among security staff during routine monitoring of sick
leave in February 2002.

It learned that between 1997 and 2002 five staff had been
diagnosed with cancer, while another unofficial investigation
revealed up to nine more security officers had some type of
cancer-related illness.

"There were five cases of cancer-related illness that have been
identified in the period in the five years preceding February
2002," Mr Froud told the committee.

"We in fact asked the security staff if they had a knowledge of
former employees that wouldn't necessarily be available to the
gallery in the gallery's official records ... as to whether any of
their current or former colleagues might have had any cancer
related illnesses."

He said there were reports of another nine cases of
cancer-related illnesses among workers.

"We felt that it was important to ascertain whether the issue
was broader than the five cases," Mr Froud said.

Asked about the current cancer status amongst NGA staff, Mr
Froud revealed there had been a further two cases on top of the 14
already identified.

"There have not been any cancer-related illnesses identified
since February 2002 among the security staff," he said.

"Among the broader staff I understand there have been a couple
of cases that have been identified."

However, Mr Froud said neither of the two cases had been
officially recorded by the gallery.